Thoughts from the yoga mat life

March 21, 2016April 7, 2017

Oil pulling victory

I did it!

From this weekend, I can add a teeny tiny but meaningful victory: oil pulling!

Last night after another long teacher training weekend, I came home feeling good about my practice and ready to try something new. I had prepared a turmeric paste for my husband’s arm (poor guy is a little banged up) and the best option I had available to make it was unrefined organic coconut oil.

So there I am making a quick turmeric paste, the sweet smell of coconut in the air, my mind drifting to beach vacations… and I found myself thinking that really, the texture of the coconut oil looks fine. It scrapes onto my spoon more like ice cream than anything else, coconut ice cream. I can do this. And before that bold thought could be overtaken by doubt, I shoved a teaspoon of coconut oil in my mouth.

I wish so badly that I could tell you that it was nothing like I expected, but it kind of was. Not as bad (thank God), but yes, swishing oil in your mouth feels exactly like swishing oil in your mouth. The feeling of the solid oil melting and liquefying was not particularly pleasant, but not horrible. The sensation of it coating my hard and soft palates also not my favorite. But the worst was the oiliness on my lips. That’s what was actually grossing me out.

On the upside, it was also the easiest problem to solve. I rinsed my lips with warm water several times while I swished and that helped enormously. Another positive is that the sensation on my teeth and gums was honestly just fine. It didn’t bother me at all. I had set a timer for 3 minutes when I started—ideally you want to go 20 minutes—and I noticed that at about the minute and a half mark, I was salivating more. That naturally thinned out the oil a bit, which improved the experience.

Once I was done, I spit it out in the trash (don’t want to clog the drain) and rinsed with warm water. Then I calmly brushed my teeth and smiled.

In the grand scheme of things, such a small victory, but I feel really great about it.